TOWN HALL MEETING AT UMUEZEOKA WARD
A town hall meeting on the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) of the Health Policy Plus project took place on the 5th of September 2019 at Enrinna HC, Umuekeoka ward of Ezza North Local Government with the aim of creating awareness to targeted populations with the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) and State Health Insurance Scheme (SHIS) messages.
This meeting was facilitated by two DOVENET staff/BHCPF facilitators – Ijeoma Chiemela and Peter Ewah, and the Ezza North LGA Social Mobilization Officer (SMO) – Awo Chidi. The meeting was very successful as all the targeted stakeholders’ of Umuezeoka were there present along with the 20 villages within its settlement fully represented.
I am a 29 years old poor wand abandoned woman, with 3 children who were born blind. There is joy in my heart because this is the most relevant and joyful news I’ve ever heard. with this BHCPF i can give my children relevant healthcare and access they need and my life does not have to end in agony. – Blessing Fidelis (Farmer and Mother of four).
The SMO briefly introduced the team, the background of the project and the reason for coming. One of the DOVENET staff- Ijeoma Chiemela shared the basic information on BHCPF, SHIS as well as BMPHS. She outlined the basic roles of the WDCs, stakeholders as well as the community members. The members of the community were asked what their basic need were which they responded. A few of those needs include:- free malaria treatment especially for children of under 5 years of age and the pregnant women, more health workers/personnel for handling the highly pressurized work in the health facility.
The facilitators, after getting response from the community members, highlighted on the basic information of BHCPF and the five (5) key beneficiaries of this fund. The WDCs and OICs were introduced as the key stakeholders at the community level. It was also explained that the WDCs alongside with the health workers and local government Public Health Care (PHC) officials will co-manage the PHCs at the ward level. The responsibilities of the community members in ensuring enrollment and access to the minimum packages were highlighted. A wrap-up of the meeting was done by Peter Ewah who responded adequately to all the questions, complains and concerns. At the end of the meeting, there were a total of 307 participants out of 100 participants targeted. The meeting as well covered 20 villages, 9 markets, 30 churches, and 23 secondary schools that made up Umuezeoka ward.
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